Mark Gonzales: Minors, college and preps can fill void left by MLB

Rob Manfred can work on his golf game, but baseball will move on.

Baseball's czar has displayed a fondness for the links, as evidenced most recently by a photograph posted Tuesday on Twitter that captured him working on his swing during the final hours of negotiations that failed to reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The lack of urgency displayed by the commissioner's office during a 43-day period led to an unrealistic skintight window of negotiations, with fans and gameday employees paying the biggest price for the cancellation of at least the first two series of regular season games.

The exodus of fans will be larger than in 1994-95, and employees could be faced with furloughs or layoffs similar to the last labor stoppage. Furthermore, the communities in Arizona and Florida which have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to provide comfortable and spacious spring training accommodations will understandably think twice about being held hostage by teams seeking upgrades or threatening to leave.

In the past decade, MLB has become more relentless in its efforts to monetize its product, reaching new depths by selling game-used bases and infield dirt. Advertising on helmets and uniforms was included in one of the proposals, according to multiple reports.

For those who love baseball, the sport will still exist — albeit at the minor league level and below.

And it's not a terrible thing.

Sure, local fans would love to see Kyle Hendricks pitch a shutout or Jose Abreu hit a home run on opening day. But several beat writers already made their trek to spring camps, writing about the next great prospect.

The hype can be too gaudy at times, but fans deserve a forum to pacify their baseball appetite while the lockout persists.

A few minor league teams wisely sent messages on social media and emails alerting fans and media that their regular season start around the second weekend of April.

The Cubs' Class-A South Bend affiliate should be well-stocked with prospects, and White Sox fans with money saved from a spring training trip can venture to North Carolina to see three of their four affiliates.

I'd expect the team's rights holders to televise some of these games.

The Kane County Cougars don't start their season until May 13 but often provide a fan-friendly product.

Many of the best prospects and high draft picks cut their teeth in college baseball, which has a great opportunity to expand its exposure well beyond the College World Series.

Several Arizona minor league parks, as well as venues in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, were used last month for top-notch college tournaments.

Some Cubs fans who already booked their spring training trip got their fix last weekend at a Brigham Young-Arizona State game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

Playing in warm-weather climates remains a necessity for northern schools. Illinois traveled to Corpus Christi, Texas, and Conway, S.C., for its first two series. UIC took two of three games at Cal last weekend.

And Northwestern has played series at Alabama-Birmingham and Santa Clara, where I saw my first college game 51 years ago when Steve Busby (who threw two no-hitters for the Royals) and the eventual national champion USC Trojans played the Broncos in an NCAA Regional.

This was a decade before ESPN started televising selected college games and eventually the College World Series. Now, several college websites provide live audio and video of their games. The number of cameras is often limited, but games can be watched without many inconveniences.

Illinois and Notre Dame fans can watch their teams square off Friday on the Big Ten website.

That showdown will be hard to match Saturday night's showdown between No. 1 Texas and No. 8 Louisiana State that could attract 20,000 fans at Minute Maid Field in Houston.

Weather permitting, the high school season will start in less than two weeks. Several scouts will follow Oswego East High School left-hander Noah Schultz, who is ranked as the 27th top prospect in the 2022 draft by Baseball America.

Youth leagues will start shortly after, and an emphasis on baseball in its purist form can provide a temporary alternative to MLB's debacle that is destined for permanent damage.